We’ve worked out a larger group for Thursday evening who will be on the “will call” list to get track level access to the races.  Below are the names of the next group.  There will be tickets in your name at “will call” – a left turn after you clear your temperature check at the main entrance next to the valet parking area (there is no valet parking available).

You’ll get your ticket and that will give you access to the main floor, not the other levels.

If you’re not on the list, you can still get free admission by making reservations in the simulcast area on the 3rd floor of the facility.  You can get those here: https://www.canterburypark.com/racing-promotions/simulcast-clubhouse-reservations/

Furzy spent the weekend getting ready for her next race.  In fairness, Satellite and Lilfeatheredindian did too, but we only have video from one!

Nevada took this video on Saturday of Furzy working over the training track.

The next day he cut her loose for a five furlong work which she completed in 1:02.26 and was 10/13.  She worked fairly well, though she broke off a little earlier than she should have so, consequently, went a bit further than Nevada wanted.  But she came out of it fine and we’ll look forward to entering this week for next!

While it is not the spot we wanted, we also can’t sit on the bench forever waiting so…

Lilfeatheredindian is scheduled to make her club debut on Thursday night, July 2.  She’s in the 4th race going five furlongs over the turf course.  She will break from post nine and will have Alonso Quinonez aboard in the Maiden Special Weight.

We had been angling for a turf sprint at a maiden claiming level, but she’s been on the shelf too long and needs to race, so we go!

Furzy came out of her race well and will be entered shortly as well.  Hopefully we’ll see Satellite in a week or so as well.

Now things are starting to roll and we will have an updated procedure for Club access to the races when we run next week.

The Club is stocked and ready to roll!

Karl Broberg claimed Satellite for us tonight out of the opener.  He’s a hard knocking, oft-claimed 5-year old gelding by Smart Strike out of the AP Indy mare Soul Search.  He’s a closer, though not as much as Ender was, and has the advantage of not being a closing sprinter but a mile/mile 1/16 type.  He ran a solid race, finishing second behind Karl’s entry in the $4,000 claiming (non-winners of a race since March 18 or 2 races since December 18) race.  There wasn’t a lot of pace in the race but still managed to finished a clear second.

It is likely that we will come back right in this spot in a few weeks.  First things first, though, we’ll let Karl get him back to the barn, have the team bring him back after the race and get him ready for his Club debut.

Here is a video that Jeff and Ted (different, but equally cool, Ted) put together for us tonight so we can start to get acquainted.

Here are his lifetime past performances: Satellite – Lifetime PPs

FURZY

Furzy came out of the race just fine.  She’ll have some recovery time and then come back with significant class relief.  Here are a couple of photos from the evening.

Still looking for that $5000 Maiden claimer for Lilfeatheredindian.

That was a disappointing evening.  Furzy broke well and was interested in going to the lead so Ry let her go.  However she hit the turn and it apparently came up on her awfully quick and she blew it.  She simply could make the turn and carried wide.  She then ducked back in and pinballed around some horses.  By the time they straightened out to head down the backside she had given up.

She’s a young horse in only her third career start and trying the turf for the first time. A lot went wrong for her and while she showed interest early – which is always a good thing – she freaked out a little bit so she will see some serious class relief before her next start.

Nevada will see how she came out of the race and get her back and ready for her next start.  Lilfeatheredindian should be next up in a $5000 maiden claiming race.  Tonight was a poor claiming night in our price range but there may be a shot or two tomorrow to get one in the Broberg barn.

Hard to see the good in a race like that, but the gate speed was nice and her willingness to run was as well.  Nevada will have to teach her the rest.  And class relief won’t hurt either.

Furzy is making the first Club start of 2020 this evening in a Maiden Special Weight going about 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.  The race is the fifth on the card and she’ll be breaking from post 5 with Ry Eikleberry on board.  In a pandemic world we’ve been a bit sidetracked on what we can and can’t do, so the folks in the first Club group will be on track level tonight, please review yesterday’s posts for procedures.

Others can reserve a table on 3rd floor ($15), access on Mezzanine ($10) or grab one of the free spots in the simulcast center on 3 (https://www.canterburypark.com/racing-promotions/simulcast-clubhouse-reservations/).  Again, due to temporary occupancy  restrictions we will not have access to the paddock or winners’ circle (if we get that fortunate).

On to the preview of the race! The 1, Pretty Xtreme, is a main track only entry and is unlikely to start so we will start with post 2.

Brahms Is Who (Rengstorf/Mawing) – Had a couple of tough outs at Oaklawn to start her career in state bred maiden claimers.  Makes the switch to the turf this evening.

She’s Fire and Ice (Robertson/Butler) – A pair of solid outings last season when she moved to the turf.  Her workout pattern is good and Dean Butler won three on yesterday’s card.  Primed for a good outing and looks to be close to the pace early.

Avie’s Paradise (Lund/Goncalves) – Grabbed a start at Turf Paradise before the shutdown to start her season and finished a solid 2nd.  Been working steadily there and Lone Star since.  Previously had shown herself as a closer but the one outing this year she was prominently placed.

FURZY (LITFIN/EIKLEBERRY)

Spitfire Suzie (Padilla/Quinonez) – Solid first turf effort at Tampa and Luis Quinonez has been riding very well.

Plenty of Munny (Stuart/Felix) – First turf try coming off of back to back 2nd place finishes at Will Rogers.  Certainly fit and ready to roll, should be leading the pack early.

And Isles (Litfin/Velazquez) – Off for 2 years before coming back for a race at Oaklawn in late April.

My Heart Sings (Rosin/Chrinos) – Off since March, Fairgrounds turf starts have only been fair but her Beyer Speed Figures are better than most in the field.

Lady Hideaway (Rengstorf/Loveberry) – First turf try she has been working really well since moving north.

Ms Sassy Atitude (Robertson/Arrieta) – Another Robertson trainee.  Ran fairly against MSW (state bred) at Oaklawn earlier in the year, makes first try here.

Jakealina (Bollinger/Harr) – Three career starts at Fonner for the five year old just starting her career.  This will be her first turf try and will be getting Lasix for the first time.

This is an intriguing race.  I can’t say that we’re “upper tier” in here, but I’m not really sure who is! We have quite a few first time turfers or horses that haven’t started in a few months.  We have class droppers and climbers and Beyer Speed Figures all over the board with no one being particularly impressive.

Furzy has questions to answer:

Can she handle the turf? She hasn’t tried the surface yet.  Her dam (by Harlan’s Holiday) has only her as progeny thus far and was unraced herself. Her sire (by Tapit) has one winner out of ten turf starters but as an Arkansas based stallion most of the breeding is geared toward dirt since there is no turf course at Oaklawn. We wanted to find out if she could handle the turf and this was the first non five furlong grass maiden race there was when she was ready, so we will see.

Can she get 7 1/2 furlongs? The better of her two races was at six furlongs while she tired badly at a mile, however a horse can carry speed a bit further on the grass than on the dirt and speed seems to be holding on both surfaces right now – though the turf sample size is too small to draw any conclusions.

Her two works here were fine – not explosive but not lollygagging either.  Most likely the best strategy to employ is to leave the race in Ry’s hands and let him adjust as the race unfolds.  From the five spot, should she break well, Ry should have some options available to him.  I think we need to stay fairly close and try to strike coming out of the turn.

I’m honestly not sure if we can win here, but I would be happy with an on-the-board finish and have her show us something.  The wild card is that no horse in here is particularly appealing or a real standout.  Any equine athlete that can step up over the turf has a good chance of taking the race.  We’ll know around 6:45 if it was her!

Good luck everybody!

For the twenty folks listed on as the first group in the last post, here is your procedure for tomorrow night:

You will come in the main entrance (the new entrance around the corner from valet parking.

While masks are not required as long as you are not near anyone while you are on track level you WILL NEED A MASK for the temperature check area in the entry way.  Step up in front of the scanner and it will let you know when you are cleared to enter (100.4 is the cut off – over that and you will be denied entry).

Once you clear the temperature check area head on over to the ticket windows next to the escalators to receive you wrist ban.

Once you have your wrist ban you proceed to the track level down the hallway next to the escalators.

Keep in mind that the main level will be your level.  You cannot move upstairs due to occupancy limitation requirements.  There is some food and beverage available but not many outlets are open there is a limited menu, so keep that in mind.

We will also NOT have access to the paddock nor the winners’ circle (should we get lucky – it will be a tough one to win, but we’ll cover that tomorrow), so please keep that in mind as well.

Lilfeatheredindian

The other filly was entered today for next Tuesday in a $5,000 maiden claiming sprint but the race didn’t fill.  Unfortunately it was not brought back as an extra for the next day but we’ll see what comes as an extra for Thursday.

Other

After a bit of a hiccup, licensing is all set for Karl Broberg and the hunt has begun – and we’ll try and make it a quick one!

Pre-pandemic days, as you know, we’d divide the group up into three or four groups for paddock access and then the entire Club would smush into the winners’ circle together should we be fortunate enough to win.

However, “smushing” is very much frowned upon these so we will not be able to have paddock access or winners’ circle access (if we get lucky).  In fact, up until today it was unlikely that we’d be able to have any Clubbers out for the races at all.

It does appear, though, that we will be able to have some folks come on out to watch the race live.  Again, we won’t have paddock or WC access, but the opportunity will exist for us to come out 20 folks at a time.

The process will be further outlined tomorrow on what we all need to do to make sure that we’re all on the list, but there is one thing that is certain: because of the strict limitation on the number of people that can be on track at any one time, the following list is the extent of the people that can come out.  We can’t allow kids, friends, spouses, etc.  ONLY the Clubber on the list will be allowed entrance.  There is just simply no way we can accommodate special requests or any one offs – there are too many licensed owners also trying to get in that day to watch their horses run.  I know this may make it difficult or even impossible for someone to come out and I’m terribly sorry.

Right now there are no free admission so passes will not be valid. There are free reservations for the simulcast area of third level each day. There is no view of the track but races can be viewed on monitors and gambling of course is encouraged. That link is https://v2.waitwhile.com/book/simulcastfans.

You can also work out a paid admission by reserving a table on third floor or reserving space on the mezzanine.  Those details can be found here: http://www.mwpaddockreport.com/canterbury-new-admission-procedures-for-owners-fans/

This situation is going to be very fluid over the racing season. But understand that reservations will be required.  You will not be able to come to the track and see if you can get in.

I will post again tomorrow with more of the details for everyone.  Until then, here is the first group of 20.  Please let me know via email if you will be coming on Wednesday night (ted@grevelisracing.com).  Again, hopefully we will be able to address the procedure as soon as tomorrow. I know that this is NOT an ideal situation but given the limitations placed upon the racetrack right now, it is the best that can be done.  And again, these procedures will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Wednesday, June 17 in race five we FINALLY will get this season started.  At some points it felt like we would never get here, but we did and here are the pertinents:

Race five on Wednesday is a Maiden Special Weight over the grass at 7.5 furlongs.  Furzy will be breaking from post 5 with Ry Eikleberry aboard, right near the middle of the 12 horses field.

We wanted to try both girls over the grass and this was the first spot to try her.  We’ll certainly see how she measures up.  I’m curious since she’s been training really well. Though I wasn’t opposed at all to run in a maiden claiming race, there was no need to sit on the shelf and wait for the one we wanted either – the meet is too short, let’s go racing.

We’ll preview the race next week.

We will not know about attendance until, most likely, after the weekend. It is unlikely that we will be able to get everyone in the building who wants to come and, if we can bring Clubbers in, it is unlikely you will be able to bring a guest. Please keep that possibility in mind.  That said, we have no details at all so anything is speculation – just points to ponder.

One of the issues you need to deal with, even before you buy or claim your first horse, is what the end game is going to be.  Have a plan to give your horse an outlet after racing be it after eight years, three years or a season.  We’ve been fortunate in that there have been several outlets we’ve been able to use for our horses if they aren’t claimed or purchased from us when our season is done.

One of the best stories has been that of Laura Ray.  She was sold off to a girl who wanted to use her as a hunter/jumper prospect and a horse she could love and grow with.  We were fortunate enough to receive an update from her recently and we want to share it with you all.  What a great outcome and we couldn’t more pleased with “Harley Quinn” as she’s known now.